Undertale - Coda Part 6

Honestly? Frisk would rather die than admit it, but the open face salad and snail club sandwich Asriel was enjoying looked kind of good. Frisk picked at the ‘human special’, an abomination of monster cuisine trying to incorporate nearly a dozen styles of human cooking in one dish, which the server had insisted Frisk try. There was just no way that jalapenos, soy sauce, sauerkraut, coconut, rice, peach, pasta, and tomato was going to work together, magic based cooking be damned. And yet, half a dozen of the other monster patrons in the restaurant were eagerly tucking in. Frisk took another bite, mostly for the sake of politeness.

“S’ good, right?” Asriel asked through a half mouthful of salad, swallowing before he continued. “I get that one sometimes, but you just can’t beat snails.”

“Yeah, it’s… definitely got a lot of creativity put into it.”

Asriel smiled, looking genuinely pleased with himself. He tried, and Frisk supposed that was the important thing.

Frisk’s phone started to ring, startling them both.

“You’ve had that thing on silent since you got here.” Asriel looked confused as Frisk pulled the phone out and looked at the screen.

“I have it so that there’s only one number that can get through. This is only for really important stuff.” Frisk looked from the phone to Asriel, hand shaking slightly. Asriel leant forward, hands on the table, ready for anything, as Frisk answered and slowly brought the phone up to one ear.

“Hello? Oh, hey Mum. What’s up? ...Oh. Oh, you are? And Dad, too? Wow. No, no, that’s awesome! Yeah, uh, Az and I are just in town, having some lunch. Yeah, that’s fine, no problem. Alright, I’ll book the room for you guys when we get back to the hotel. Mmhmm. Yeah. Alright, see you at around six. Ok, bye. Love you too! Bye!”

Frisk put the phone down and took a deep, calming breath. Asriel looked horrified.

“T-they’re coming?”

“Already at the airport. Someone let slip that we were in the same city and they decided to make a royal visit.”

Asriel sat back in his chair heavily. “What are we gonna do? Mum’s freaking psychic when it comes to… Y-you know…” He gestured awkwardly from himself to Frisk.

“That’s because you have the worst poker face of any human or monster I’ve ever met. You wiggle your nose when you’re lying.” Asriel’s nose immediately twitched, and he covered it, looking down at the traitorous snoot with crossed eyes. “And here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to have a nice dinner with our parents, buy them a nice bottle of wine and get the both of them sloshed as quickly as possible, and then cram them into their hotel room and run for it. Four hours, tops, and maybe breakfast tomorrow morning before you have to go. We play it cool, we take it easy, and everything will be just fine.”

***

“This is it.” Frisk looked in the restroom mirror, talking to the reflection. “I’m actually going to die. Mum’s going to find out and then I’m going to get murdered by the royal family and it’s going to cause an international incident because I couldn’t keep my hands to myself. Idiot. Idiot! Frisk headbutted the mirror lightly to punctuate the last word and then rested against it, eyes closed.

Frisk knew that regardless of how certain the outcome was, they still had to try. They had made this particular bed, and now it was time to lie in it. Frisk turned on the tap, bending down and splashing some cold water onto their face, trying to clear the mind. When they could see again, Asriel was standing behind them.

“AAAAaaahhhooh. H-hey. Has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like your father when you’re looming ominously behind someone?”

Asriel chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “A few times. Sorry about that. I’d have said something when I came in but I wasn’t sure which bathroom you’d gone into. I just wanted to make sure you were ok, you looked like you were about to throw up.”

Frisk sighed, leaning back against the sink. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just pay and head back, grab some supplies on the way. A nice red, or something.” And some food that was actually edible. “We can make some plans, maybe rehearse for probable questions at dinner.”

Asriel checked his phone. “You said six, right? So we have four hours, that should be plenty of time. Come on, I’ll grab the cheque and we can get moving. As long as we keep our eyes on the prize, we should be fine.”

***

“This is a bad plan. This is a bad, bad plan.” Asriel shook his head as Frisk poured another glass for each of them.

“Shut up and drink. If we’re acting like guilty children, they’ll know something’s up right away.” Frisk handed Asriel one of the glasses and swirled the other, taking a small sip. It was ok, not great, but it would the best Frisk could do on such short notice.

“Yeah, because we’ll be acting so naturally when we’re tipsy. Weren’t they supposed to be the ones drinking?”

“I’m improvising. I’m also nervous. This is just to help us both relax, take the edge off a little, ok?” Frisk took another sip, and Asriel looked down at his own glass with a conflicted expression.

“I dunno…”

“Trust me. After this, we’ll get cleaned up and go over questions they might ask and what we’re gonna say.”

“Well, if you’re sure…” Asriel managed a wry smile, and took a decent swig of his wine.

***

The first mistake was the shirt. Asriel had spilled wine on it and so it had to go in the wash, obviously, but that was fine because he had a nicer one and was gonna change anyway. But, some of it had soaked through to his belly, and while he had insisted that it was fine, Frisk hadn’t taken no for an answer. A purple splotch on that unblemished white expanse seemed somehow criminal. The second mistake had been trying to skip a shower. Asriel had suggested that maybe they could blot the wine out to save time, but it had turned out that he was quite ticklish.

Ok. Maybe the wine was the first mistake. A tickle fight was not the ideal way to prepare for dinner with the parents, Frisk could admit this. And, well, it had gotten a little heavier after they had both worn one another out. This time, Asriel was sitting on Frisk’s belly, holding them down gently and nibbling his way down their neck while they squirmed weakly.

The phone rang again, on the bed next to them, causing the two of them to stop dead. After a second, Frisk coughed. “You, uh, wanna let me up so I can get that?”

“Oh! Yeah. Good idea.” Asriel leant back, and Frisk snatched the phone, making a note of the time and then answering it again.

“Hello? Yeah, we’re just on our way down to the lobby now. See you there!”

They stared at each other after Frisk hung up.

“You need a shirt.”

“You have a bite mark. Riiiight there.” Asriel gently touched Frisk on the neck.

“My hair must be a mess, too.”

“It is. I must smell like you.”

“You do, actually.”

They stared at each other with resignation.

“...Maybe if we just stay up here, they won’t find us.”

“We have to go, Az.”

“Yes, but have you considered: we could change our names and flee the country.”

Frisk pushed him, causing Asriel to flop lightly onto the bed next to them. He still had the spot on his belly. Frisk sighed and poked the spot, causing him to bleat quietly and glare.

“C’mon, maybe we’re overthinking things anyway. Let’s get dressed and get down there, what’s the worst that could happen?”

***

“Howdy kids!” Asgore swept the both of them up, one in each arm. He was getting on in years now, a bit greyer and a little slower on his feet than he once was, but damn it if he wasn’t still built like a truck. Frisk squirmed lightly in his grip as they gasped for air, wincing at the sound of bones popping. “I haven’t seen the two of you in the same room in ages!” He loosened his crushing bear hug, holding the both of them and beaming. “Gosh, look how big you’ve both gotten.”

“Try not to crush our children dear.” Toriel patted Asgore on the shoulder gently. “They’re the only ones we have.”

Asgore put them both down gently, chuckling and dusting the two of them off. “Right, right. Sorry, I’m just excited to see you guys again! The whole family, back together.”

“It’s good to see you too, Dad, Mum.” Asriel shuffled around his father, straight into Toriel’s waiting arms. She gave him a firm hug, which caused him to roll his eyes and blush. “Ah, Mum…”

“Oh hush. Indulge an old lady for a moment.” She held him by the shoulders and peered at him critically over her glasses. “So tall, now! Hmm… Have you been eating enough? I told that manager of yours to make sure you had plenty to eat. If you need me to have a word with him-”

“They literally won’t stop giving me food, Mum. It’s fine. Please do not lecture my manager again.” Asriel sounded a tiny bit desperate, but he was smiling.

Asgore clapped Frisk on the shoulder, causing them to stumble. “Frisk! Haven’t you grown up to be a fine young… uh, human. You really should make more time for your mother and I, we do miss you while you’re travelling.”

“Frisk does their best, Gorey. Very busy saving the world, aren’t you?” Toriel reached over and put a hand on Frisk’s shoulder.

“S-something like that. I miss you guys when I’m out, though.”

“Of course. We miss you too, Frisk.” Toriel pulled Frisk over as well, subjecting them both to her motherly ministrations, Asgore rapidly coming up behind the both of them and wrapping all three of them in another hug, effectively cutting off escape.

It was nice. Frisk blushed and protested but, well, they had missed this.

When they finally managed to pry themselves free of their parents loving embrace, Frisk showed them to the room they had booked for the two gigantic boss monsters. The presidential suite had been… tricky, to arrange on such short notice, but the mention of the word ‘royalty’ had eased the process somewhat. It was a big deal for hotels to host royalty, apparently.

Once they had deposited their travel bags and Toriel’s suitcase full of assignments that needed marking, they headed out into town for dinner. Frisk had chosen the restaurant this time, in the hopes of being able to order a meal that was actually edible. After the initial wave of excitement wore off, both Frisk and Asriel began to occasionally exchange worried looks as the four of them walked through the cool evening, drawing all manner of odd looks as they traveled. It was nice to see the parents again, but, well...

Dinner was coming.